The worldwide community of guitarists and musicians is one of the main reasons why TrueFire is where it is today. With our students’ input and feedback, we stay motivated to continue to expand our library and improve our music e-learning experience. So, while we spend a lot of time highlighting our incredible faculty and content, we think it’s time to move the spotlight on some of our most passionate users.
In this Student Spotlight series, we’ll be showcasing a member of the diverse TrueFire community and sharing their thoughts with you. We hope you find yourself inspired. Ignited we stand!
Student Spotlight: murrayatuptowngaller
Your Name:
Murray L.
How long have you been a TrueFire Student?
13 years.
Tell us a little bit about yourself as a musician:
I live in western Michigan and bought my first
What attracted you to TrueFire at first?
YouTube videos, the Licks You Must Know style courses, and the demo/breakdown lesson pairs. I like the way things have developed since then also!
What are some of your favorite TrueFire courses or lessons?
David Hamburger’s Blues Alchemy (pre-war and post-war), Blues Architect, anything from Frank Vignola, and Howard Morgen’s Fingerboard Breakthroughs.
How has TrueFire helped improve your playing?
Taught me everything I need to make time to learn! I still have to improve my playing. 🙂
Why do you use TrueFire and how often?
I like the style and quality of courses and stream courses while commuting to process fingerboard spatial and theoretical concepts I don’t focus on as intently when wrestling with a
What is your favorite feature of the TrueFire learning experience?
The downloadable courses, so I don’t have to use substantial wireless mobile plan data. The second best feature is the early adoption of Soundslice video tab sync technology.
Who is your favorite TrueFire Educator and why?
I am always reluctant to label “favorite” musicians because there are so many great ones. I feel like I am being narrow-minded in doing so. Sometimes it’s Corey Congilio, sometimes Frank Vignola, sometimes Fareed Haque, or David Hamburger. It all depends on what resonates with my focus at a particular time!
What would you like to see more of at TrueFire?
This isn’t keeping me awake at night, but I have finally realized I have overly focused on studying music theoretically, like most other topics I have studied. I realized I didn’t understand how to learn a song without analyzing it, yet I realize many excellent musicians learned theory after they built their chops, if at all. I fully appreciate the theory explanations. I like to know WHY I like certain sounds, but simply learning by muscle memory is a concept I somehow missed. If it isn’t so dumb and basic, I would like to hear occasional ‘grounding’ concepts interspersed with everything else each artist presents in their own way and in their own sense of priority. Not to bring courses down from intermediate or higher to beginner, but as a sanity check or focus-maintainer. If it was obvious, people would improve on their own without developing so many bad habits (like learning bad tempo or too much theory.
Any other comments?
Thank you, as always.
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